


dribs and drabbles

by fuuei



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, etc etc. various tones and ratings here, old as BALLS, really old work from tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:09:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27973521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuuei/pseuds/fuuei
Summary: tumblr ficlets too short to justify their own post.first up: eruri lie down on the ground and talk about clouds :)
Relationships: Levi/Erwin Smith
Comments: 8
Kudos: 19





	1. drabble 1

Erwin stirs when Levi lays down beside him, gingerly resting his head on Erwin’s shoulder.

“I can’t feel my legs,” he murmurs.

“Lucky bastard.” There’s nothing but pulpy mess below Erwin’s knees.

-

He’d found him sprawled face-up, eyes open. Thought he’d died like the rest. Even lying next to him now, Levi barely sees his chest rise and fall. Then again he can barely see anything anymore. He’d wandered numbly, stumbling amidst the bloody carnage, sluggishly bleeding to match the slowing of his heart, until he’d spotted Erwin’s body on the grass.

-

Erwin’s the first to break the silence.

“No titans have come to eat us yet.”

“You think they did it?”

“The timing fits Armin and Hange’s projections. We shouldn’t have been able to hold off that last wave of aberrants… we _hadn’t_. They walked away of their own accord and only Eren’s coordinate power can accomplish that-”

The speech costs him, ends on a gasp. But Levi can see the shine in his gaze. Even like this, Erwin blazes faith. Levi’s just tired. Erwin’s probably right as usual but he wants nothing more than to close his eyes.

They breathe together for a while. Levi feels himself slipping.

“Father and I used to… lie outside like this. He liked how afternoon sunlight made everything golden.” Erwin’s voice is thready in a way Levi’s never heard before, tender in a way he has, and thought he’d never hear again. It keeps him tethered. “We played games… cloud-watching.”

“Yeah? Well I see one that looks like a perfect pile of shit.” Lie. He isn’t even looking up. It’s moot point with the gray clouding over his vision. Erwin laughs anyway, a small fond puff of breath against his cheek. When had Levi nestled so close?

“…always the charmer.”

Levi’s tongue feels thick now, unwieldy. The blood’s probably dried in it. He presses his lips to Erwin’s neck in lieu of a response.


	2. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> erwin shuts down.

erwin’s head snaps back from the force of the blow.

“you’re pathetic,” levi hisses, a sound of animal pain. 

erwin huffs in bitter amusement. that’s a far kinder assessment than he deserves. 

“get up. come on, there are soldiers and horses left on the–”

erwin’s not listening. _why am i still alive?_ the truth had been the end of the line for so long. destruction, truth, whichever came first, and then nothing. he hadn’t conceived of a future beyond either. why does his heart still beat, wisps of salvage plans flitting across his brain? no matter. he’d prepared for this, had groomed successors. others will take his place, his betters, while erwin sits and rots in the ruins he’s created of shiganshina. 

“ _ge_ t _UP, DAMN YOU!_ ” levi roars, grabs him by the collar, spitting rage inches from his face. “you’re still alive, _you arrogant son of a bitch, you’re still alive, how DARE you give up like this? do you think we’re all so pure, so untainted, everyone but you joining the corps on some holy mission to save humanity?! you know why i first joined the corps, did you think i deserved to die then?! what’s wrong with wanting something? do you think that none of what you’ve accomplished counts because you wanted to get into that goddamn basement–_ LOOK AT ME!” he snaps erwin back once, hard.

“well fuck you maybe it is,” another harsh tug. “but you’re still here and we can – we can still do something. _i know you, erwin_. snap out of it. this is just another setback, we can recover. i knew what you wanted and still let you go on this mission, i believed you. i still do. erw–”

“i’m sorry your belief is mistaken.” _  
_

levi hits him again. shakes him and kicks and pleads. erwin sits unmoving, limbs heavy: he imagines they are dragged down by the weight of the accusing dead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> written very quickly in the fever of ch76 spoilers. i hadn't read the chapter yet lol. original notes: 
> 
> _he’ll get better right_
> 
> _petition to airlift erwin smith out of this manga and drop him on a tropical vacation with levi as reward for winning grand champion in the snk self-hate olympics_


	3. kisses are a far better fate

“ _Fucking what?_ ”

“Go. We’ve done everything we can,” Erwin repeats with infuriating calmness. “All that’s left is to fire a signal flare when this post falls; I can still do that despite these injuries. But _you_ should leave. It’s a long shot making it to Maria, even on horseback, but there’s no point in _both_ of us dying here for certain.”

Levi stares. He’d been ready to do just that.

“Must I turn this into an order, Levi?“

“…no,” he says finally, “You’re right.” Then he knocks Erwin unconscious.

-

He ties Erwin to the horse with what’s left of their 3DMG wires. It looks crap at first glance but Levi’s poured all his skill into tying those knots. They’ll have a bitch of a time cutting Erwin out of them later.

The sun’s finally starting to rise. Levi leads his mare out the courtyard, murmuring into her ear. _To Maria, fast as you can. Don’t stop for anything._ She whickers softly back, like a confirmation. _There’s a good girl._ She’ll make it. He has to believe.

Erwin’s still out cold. Levi checks him over again, makes sure his wounds are firmly cushioned. Then he leans in to press their lips together. It’s awkward, bending at an odd angle to kiss the slack mouth of a man trussed to a horse, but Levi savors the moment.

It’s the last time he’ll be doing this, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i kept killing them.... why


	4. cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> schmoop

Levi sits beside Erwin on the old pull-out, watching the rain lash hard against the window. Even after being bundled in a blanket and Erwin’s huge sweater, with tea steaming from a mug between his fingers, stray goosebumps rise along his arms from the memory of that stinging cold. He shivers. Erwin stirs from where he’s stretched out beside Levi, blinking dazedly out of sleep.

“Need another blanket?” 

“I’m fine. _You_ need the rest more than– hey. Don’t get up.”

But Erwin is already pushing himself up, rising like a small wool mountain. Levi tugs him back down by the shirtsleeve. _Fuck it_.

He sets the tea aside, throws his blanket over Erwin. Lifts Erwin’s arm to burrow underneath, back pressed to Erwin’s chest. No sense in trudging all the way to the closet if they can just share. Erwin’s practical. He’ll understand. Levi can plead brain-fried exhaustion later. And what’s a snuggle or two between– best friends? Levi never cared much about what they call each other. And they’re already both on one bed with Levi wearing the guy’s clothes. They smell of Erwin, and of Levi’s favored brand of laundry detergent. Everything here smells like that: like them, together. God. Erwin’s a fucking furnace. It’s so good. Levi shivers again, this time in pleasure.

“Levi…”

“This is fine. Go back to sleep.”

“We’re going to overheat eventually, like this.”

“You can kick me off later.”

“I don’t want to kick you off later.”

_Well. Shit_.

Erwin’s arm– big strong arm, his brain always likes to remind him, and this time he lets it– pushes against his head. Levi lets is slide underneath to become a makeshift pillow. The other one moves over his side, coming to rest securely against his front. Right where Levi’s heart would be trying to jackrabbit out if he weren’t so tired. Erwin can probably still feel its weak thumping. He can feel Erwin too, his weight, his solidity, the movement when he speaks.

“Is this all right?” 

_Yeah_. _It’s okay_. His own hand finds its way over to Erwin’s, fingers tangling lightly. A tension he didn’t know he had bleeds out of his limbs. It’s more than okay. He closes his eyes and lets the sound of the rain and Erwin’s soft breathing lull him to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> first ever eruri thing i did, way back in 2015 😔 i would write this a little differently now


End file.
